April 10, 2013

It doesn’t matter what a writer writes. The key to success is finding an audience, but finding that audience isn’t easy. We write words we think have value. Maybe an editor has confirmed that belief by contracting the work. But it’s safe to say most—maybe all—writers measure their success on the size of their audience. Whether we’re blogging or selling novels, we can measure readership to a certain extent, and that’s a blessing and a curse.

I’m new to this published writer thing, so I have few tips to give on finding an audience. I suspect even with years under my belt my tips would be vague. I’m not sure it’s something that can be charted and replicated. If it were, wouldn’t everyone be following those steps to certain success? I’m open to suggestions, though. How did you find a readership for your blog, site or book? Is it simply a game of luck and long-term visibility?

September 21, 2012

I’ve been struggling with this whole blogging thing lately. Here and at my author blog. I’ve been struggling with what to post on Twitter and what to not. What I should share, what I should keep in the space of “real life”. What I should keep in the space of my head only.

I’m not sure what brings on these moments of introspection. Change or the opposite? Procrastination or productivity? Too much coffee or not enough?

The thing is, I’m in a place where I don’t know exactly what to say. What people want to hear. What I want to have them hear.

I keep a list of authors I think do social media very well, and I keep a list of actions on social media that drive me up a wall. I thought this might help. In an analytical way it kind of does, but at the base of it all, it really doesn’t. Because I’m not going to mimic what author A does or do the opposite of what author B does, because that makes me someone who’s only being someone else or the opposite of someone else. It’s not…me.

So, as I’m weighing this and that, I’m curious… what are the types of things you want to read in blogs? On Twitter? Can you think of someone who does social media really well? Or even better, what are your social media pet peeves?